Free Clinics of Michigan

Free Clinics of Michigan Annual Meeting Friday, January 29, 2010 Michigan Health and Hospital Association, Lansing

MINUTES

Clinics in Attendance:

Barry Community Free Clinic, Hastings, MI Cabrini Clinic, Detroit, MI Cadillac Area Community Health Clinic, Cadillac, MI Care Free Medical and Dental, Inc., Lansing, MI Cathedral Mental Health Care, Saginaw, MI Catherine’s Health Center, Grand Rapids, MI City on a Hill Ministries, Zeeland, MI Community Free Clinic, Petosky, MI (via phone) Cristo Rey Family Health Clinic, Lansing, MI Dr. Albert Cleage Memorial Health Center, Detroit, MI Fountain Clinic, Marshall, MI Free Clinic of Kalamazoo, Kalamazoo, MI Gary Burnstein Community Health Center, Pontiac, MI Genesee County Free Medical Clinic, Flint, MI Health Intervention Services, Grand Rapids, MI Helen M. Nickless Volunteer Clinic, Essexville, MI Holland Free Health Clinic, Holland, MI Hope Medical Clinic (Wayne), Wayne, MI Joy-Southfield Community Health Center, Detroit, MI Medical Care Access Coalition Volunteer Clinic, Marquette, MI Mercy Primary Care Center, Detroit, MI Neighbors Caring for Neighbors, Mt. Clemens, MI Nursing Clinic of Battle Creek, Battle Creek, MI Oasis of Hope, Grand Rapids, MI Presbyterian Health Clinic of Branch County, Coldwater, MI Riverside Health Clinic, Three Rivers, MI Seeds of Grace, Allegan, MI St. Luke’s Clinic, Jackson, MI St. Peter’s Free Clinic of Hillsdale County, Hillsdale, MI Traverse Health Clinic, Traverse City, MI Guest: Ferncare Free Clinic, Ferndale MI (opening in 6 months)

Welcome

Joyce Hardy, FCOM President, called the meeting to order at 10:00 AM. She introduced Rebecca Busk, AmeriCorps VISTA member, as new staff of Free Clinics of Michigan.

Free Clinics of Michigan - Minutes 1 4/6/2018 Board of Directors Election

A proposal to restructure the board of directors and elect new members was distributed to the clinics gathered. The proposal called for the executive board to be reduced from 4 members to 3, elimination of the Secretary position to be replaced with a non-voting recording secretary, elimination of District Coordinators, and addition of new board members to achieve an uneven number of members for voting purposes. Karen Kaashoek moved from Secretary to Vice-President. Cathy Robinson moved from Vice- President to member. Both will fill out current term in these roles. The nominees to the board were Brian Harris from the Gary Burstein Community Health Clinic in Pontiac, MI and Barbara Grinwis from Oasis of Hope in Grand Rapids MI. The plan and new members were unanimously approved via voice vote. Current officers and terms are as such:

Joyce Hardy, President 01-29-2010 to 12-31-2012 Karen Kaashoek, Vice President 01-29-2010 to 12-31-2010 Jane Zwiers, Treasurer 01-29-2010 to 12-31-2012 Charissa Shawcross, Member 01-01-2008 to 12-31-2010 Cathy Robinson, Member 01-29-2010 to 12-31-2010 Barbara Grinwis, Member 01-29-2010 to 12-31-2012 Brian Harris, Member 01-29-2010 to 12-31-2012

VISTA member, Non-voting Recording Secretary

Michigan Department of Community Health Report

Lonnie Barnett spoke on the current situation at MDCH.

He made the gathered clinics aware of a program that may allow free clinics to act as placement sites for students entering the medical field. The program, called SEARCH places students in underserved areas for a period of 4-8 weeks full time or an extended part-time experience.

For 2010 the MDCH experienced funding cuts and lost state funding for state loan repayment to medical professionals. The MDCH funding to free clinics is still intact for 2010 but no increases. The budget to free clinics remains $250,000 that is divided equal among qualifying clinics.

Ian Horst briefly elaborated on the MDCH funds to free clinics. For 2009, 51 clinics received funds. These clinics saw an aggregate of 116,000 patient visits with 3770 volunteer hours donated each week. The income of the patient base continues to drop. A full report on the data collected in the 2009 grant application to MDCH will be made available shortly. 2010 grant awards should arrive by mail to qualifying free clinics within the next month.

Free Clinics of Michigan - Minutes 2 4/6/2018 The floor was passed to Bob from MDCH to report on their insights into pending health reform. A handout was made available and can be accessed on the FCOM website. He also reported on a good resource from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, “The cost of failure.” A link to this report is also available through the website.

Overall impression on health reform is optimistic. MDCH expects some federal bill to be passed covering 2/3 to 3/4 of uninsured Americans starting in 2013 or 2014.

Utilizing AmeriCorps VISTA Members in Free Clinics

Evan Albert from the Corporation for National Service spoke on becoming a site to sponsor AmeriCorps VISTA members. VISTAs serve full-time for one-year terms in a capacity building function at non-profit organizations. They are not intended to provide direct services and cannot replace current staff.

He explained the process for acquiring VISTA members and the cost associated. A site goes through a grant process to receive VISTAs that usually takes 3 to 4 months from concept to hiring. VISTAs can begin work in Nov., Apr., June, July, or Aug. Each site is responsible for formulating the job responsibilities of the VISTA and to conduct the hiring. A site must propose the use of at least 2 VISTAs at a time for at least a three-year project. Multiple sites can put in a joint application with one site acting as the fiduciary. The federal government pays the living allowance and benefits to the VISTA and the site provides supervision and travel allowance. A site is expected to cost-share one VISTA in those three years by paying the living allowance for one VISTA for one year, about $11,000.

To get the process started, email [email protected]

Healthcare Reform and the Landscape of the Safety Net

Kim Siebelski of the Michigan Primary Care Association spoke on the current forecast of health reform. From her perspective there is enough support to pass the bipartisan portions of the health reform bill. These fall into three pieces to health reform. One, improved access through the expansion of services in the healthcare safety net by increasing funding to safety net providers. Two, expansion of Medicaid to cover more uninsured Americans with limited income. New limit on income will fall somewhere between 100 and 300% of the federal poverty level. Three, put an end unfair insurance practices. Kim projects that we won’t see universal coverage or a private payor system.

FQHCs, What does it take to be one?

Neal Colburn, also from the Michigan Primary Care Association, presented an introduction to FQHC status. His presentation is available on the FCOM website.

This presentation sparked a discussion on the relationships between free clinics and FQHCs. FCOM will be conducting a six-week study on these interactions. Upon

Free Clinics of Michigan - Minutes 3 4/6/2018 completion this data will be shared with MPCA to develop a plan for better relationships between organizations and better services for the shared patient population in the future. A survey will be made available through the listserv and on the website.

Report on the 2009 FCGLR Convention in Detroit, MI

Nathan Megel (Cabrini Clinic), member of the FCGLR 2009 Conference Planning Committee, spoke on the success of the 2009 FCGLR Convention held in Detroit, MI from September 30 to October 2. He provided some statistics from a survey of attendees and reported the profit made to FCOM from the convention sponsorships. His report is available on the website.

Next FCGLR Conference and FCOM Comments

Sue Koons (Free Clinics of Kalamazoo) spoke on behalf of Jane Zwiers, FCOM Treasurer. The next FCGLR conference will be held in Indiana in the spring of 2011 to accommodate the transition of FCGLR offices to Iowa and to not conflict with NAFC conferences.

A FCOM budget report was made available for 2009 as well as the approved budget for 2010-2011. These documents are on the website.

Do-it-yourself websites with Weebly

Rebecca Busk, VISTA, presented the new FCOM website that will be replacing the existing one at www.fcomi.org in the near future. This website was constructed using free internet-based web development tools from Weebly. A presentation was also made on how to use the Weebly interface to create simple and free websites. Free accounts can be set-up at www.weebly.com.

Rebecca also distributed a list of services available to the member clinics from FCOM by using the FCOM VISTA member in capacity building. This is also available on the website.

Wrap-up and Adjournment

Surveys on current services were completed and return to Rebecca. For those that have not returned the survey, it has been made available on the website.

Joyce Hardy adjourned the meeting at 3:45.

Minutes Submitted by Rebecca Busk, Recording Secretary – 2/3/2010

Free Clinics of Michigan - Minutes 4 4/6/2018